On October 28-29, Open Government Partnership Global Summit 2015 was held in Mexico City, Mexico.

In the framework of the Open Government Partnership Global Summit, Director of IDFI - Giorgi Kldiashvili and Chairman of the Board - Levan Avalishvili, with the member of the Georgian Parliament, Tamar Kordzaia met with Rafael Ortiz Fábrega, the President of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica. The working meeting aimed at exchanging experiences connected with development of Open Parliament Georgia Acton Plan and sharing information on civic engagement and involvement of NGOs in the legislative activities of the Parliament of Georgia. 

During the Meeting with Rafael Ortiz Fábrega, Giorgi Kldiashvili and Levan Avalishvili highlighted the role of civil society and non-governmental organizations in the process of elaboration of the Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan. Giorgi Kldiashvili mentioned that successful implementation of principles of Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan 2015-2016 mostly depend on the political will and readiness of the legislators and government of Georgia. Levan Avalishvili highlighted the commitments encompassing accountability, access to information, technologies and innovations and the importance of properly fulfilling them.

The President of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica was interested in other aspects of Open Government Partnership. In accordance with his interest, parties discussed the forming and working process of the Inter-Factional Group of the Parliament of Georgia. They also discussed the Memorandum on Parliamentary Openness signed among the representatives of NGOs and international organizations, the Declaration on Parliamentary Openness, its meaning and the obligations set out in the document.

Georgian MP, Tamar Kordzaia discussed existing friendly ties between two countries. The MP expressed hopes that friendly relations between Costa Rica and Georgia will further develop and deepen in the areas of mutual interest.

Notably, Rafael Ortiz Fábrega expressed his interest in implementing the principles of open parliament in Costa Rica according to the standards and principles of Georgian open parliament action plan, for which Georgian side pledged full support and assistance.

The above-mentioned demonstrates once again that collaboration between the Parliament of Georgia and the civil society is a model for the international society.

Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, development of citizen participation, fight corruption and harness new technologies.

Georgia joined the Partnership in 2011 and since December, 2014, IDFI has been implementing the project ''Supporting Involvement of the Parliament of Georgia in Open Government Partnership Initiative''. The Project is funded in the framework of the EU and the Parliament of Georgia Program: “Strengthening the System of Parliamentary Democracy in Georgia Project Document” which is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 'Supporting Involvement of the Parliament of Georgia in Open Government Partnership Initiative' aims to promote parliamentary openness and transparency, increase citizen engagement into the legislative processes through the involvement of Parliament in the OGP.